Smoky Remembrances

When you have pecan trees on a farm, there is always something to do.  Pecans fall on the ground for a few months late in the year, but limbs are always falling.  There are always limbs and branches on the ground needing attention.  These early Spring days have been spent cleaning up, gathering some of those limbs, and putting them in a burn pile.  This afternoon while cleaning up some of the raised beds in the garden, I caught the smell of smoke from the burn pile, looked over in the direction of the fire, and thought of Simon Peter.   

There were two significant moments when Peter could smell the smoke from a fire burning near him.  Both are a  part of the narrative remembered in the Lenten and Easter season.  When Jesus was led away on the night of betrayal, Peter followed and found himself with others at a courtyard outside the high priest's house.  One of the details of the night is found in Luke 22:55: "When they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them."  While Peter was sitting there smelling the smoke which was washing over him, he three times vehemently denied knowing Jesus.   

The second significant smoke story is told after the resurrection when the risen Jesus fixed breakfast for the disciples on the beach.  When they got out of their boat that morning, the story says, "When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it and bread."  (John 21:9)  With the taste of cooked fish in his mouth and the smell of smoke in his nose, Peter later walked down the beach with Jesus where Peter was asked three times about his love for the One whose arm rested on his shoulder as they walked.  Whenever Peter smelled smoke again, he must have remembered the smoke of sorrow and denial and the smoke of forgivenss and love.  These days of Lent cause us to remember with sorrow our own moments of denying the Christ and as Easter dawns we will once again be reminded of how we are loved and forgiven by the One who has died and risen for us.